With the popularity of personal computers and the prosperous development of Internet, information can be exchanged all over the world, and there is a trend of more and more information flowing through networks. Hence, the past systems composed of several computers or devices gathered at a certain place have fallen short of meeting the communication demands. Currently, many systems are no longer formed purely by gathering several computers together, but are composed of the computers or devices distributed on various sites via networking, thereby providing more varieties of service to users, wherein the computers or devices can be any network-related elements, such as workstations, servers, databases, routers and backup devices, etc.
With the rapid growth of network applications, more and more network devices having strong processing capability and high reliability are needed to provide stable support and operation. Since a stackable network device has the features of high reliability, high efficiency and connection flexibility, the stackable network device such as a stackable switch, a stackable hub, a stackable switching hub or a stackable switching router, etc., has been widely utilized to build various networks for conveniently making the future expansion of network or the adjustment of network topology.
Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, FIG. 1 is schematic diagram showing the simplified structure of a conventional local area network (LAN), and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the simplified structure of a conventional configuration file, wherein a LAN 10 is composed of a stackable network module 20 connecting to a plurality of computers, and the stackable network module 20 is formed by stacking and connecting three stackable network devices 40, 50 and 60 (such as switches), wherein the stackable network device 40 is a master stackable network device used for activating the stackable network module 20. The stackable network devices 40, 50 and 60 are connected respectively to a plurality of computers 34, 35 and 36. The operating system of the stackable network module 20 is a command line interface (CLI) component, wherein the CLI component can allow users to enter system configuration commands line by line, or to configure the system by executing a configuration file 80 in which the system configuration commands and initialization data are written beforehand.
The configuration file 80 is stored in the stackable network device 40 (master stackable network device), and such as shown in FIG. 2, the initialization data 44, 54 and 64 previously stored for the stackable network devices 40, 50 and 60 are recorded in the configuration file 80, wherein those initialization data 44, 54 and 64 comprise respectively the allocation information of the stackable network devices 40, 50 and 60 and the computers 34, 35 and 36 connected thereto, such as the information of port location and connecting elements, etc. of the stackable network devices 40, 50 and 60. When the stackable network module 20 is activated, the CLI component will load the initialization data sequentially from the top to the bottom in the configuration file 80, i.e. first loading the initialization data 44 (belonging to the stackable network device 40); then loading the initialization data 54 (belonging to the stackable network device 50); and thereafter loading the initialization data 64 (belonging to the stackable network device 60), thereby rapidly and correctly setting each of the elements of the stackable network module 20 to the states previously saved so as to complete the connection between the stackable network module 20 and each of the computers, thus enabling the LAN 10 to work smoothly.
Although the existing stackable network devices have been implemented with multiple user-friendly designs and user interfaces, yet the CLI component loads the initialization data by following the sequence from the top to the bottom in the configuration file. Therefore, if the logic stacking sequence of stacking the stackable network devices 40, 50 and 60 in the stackable network module 20 is the same as the arrangement sequence of recording the initialization data 44, 54 and 64 in the configuration file 80, then the CLI component can set correctly the initialization data 44 to the stackable network device 40; the initialization data 54 to the stackable network device 50; and the initialization data 64 to the stackable network device 60. Otherwise, if the logic stacking sequence of the stackable network devices 40, 50 and 60 in the stackable network module 20 is changed or at least one of the stackable network devices 40, 50 and 60 is withdrawn, the initialization data will be set to the stackable network devices incorrectly. Hence, under the aforementioned circumstances, users have to adjust the setting of each of the stackable network devices manually, so as to prevent the LAN 10 from occurring errors.
For example, in the configuration file 80, assume that the logic sequence number of the stackable network device 50 is #2, and the logic sequence number of the stackable network device 60 is #3. When the logic sequence number of the stackable network device 50 and the logic sequence number of the stackable network device 60 are swapped, users need to configure the initialization data 54 of the stackable network device 50 to the original logic sequence number (i.e. #3) of the stackable network device 60, and the initialization data 64 of the stackable network device 60 to the original logic sequence number (i.e. #2) of the stackable network device 50; or the users may, in the configuration file 80, move the initialization data 54 of the stackable network device 50 to the location at which the initialization data 64 of the stackable network device 60 is originally recorded, and the initialization data 64 of the stackable network device 60 to the location at which the initialization data 54 of the stackable network device 50 is originally recorded, thereby enabling the stackable network devices 50 and 60 to keep on working correctly.
However, the aforementioned steps of configuring the system takes a lot of time and efforts, thus prolonging the down time of the LAN and causing a lot of inconvenience to the clients. On the other hand, since the configuration file 80 is quite lengthy and complicated, errors frequently occur while the data contained therein is manually modified, further resulting in loss of manpower and material.